Eternal Darkness

As the system message window disappeared, a massive energy explosion suddenly emerged within Elion's body, causing him to groan in pain. His body felt as if weighed down by hundreds of mountains; his bones shattered and reassembled repeatedly, and the impurities in his body were instantly purged.

The Dred, not understanding what was happening to Elion, looked at him with a puzzled expression but saw a golden opportunity to attack and take advantage of the situation.

With a wave of its hand, the Dred tore open space, stepped in, then vanished and reappeared behind Elion, transforming its hand into a sharp spear and thrusting it straight at Elion's back.

However, before the spear's tip could reach its target, Elion's hand moved at a speed exceeding light, gently slapping the Dred's face.

"Ack—" Black blood gushed from the Dred's mouth as it was instantly thrown far away, crashing through Mars and continuing to hurtle until colliding with the outer rocky ring of Jupiter.

On the other side, Elion began to stabilize.

"Damn, it really hurts," Elion said as the effects of excessive level-up had subsided, not paying too much attention to the Dred, which had been hurled far away by his slap.

[I warned you,] the system chimed in. They had discussed this beforehand when Elion was planning his strategy to defeat the Dred.

Destroying the Earth was just the surface of Elion's plan, as his true intention was to kill all the Dreds on Earth in a single strike to level up. And with the level-up, his Imagination Point, which was almost depleted, was now full again, even increasing to an absurd degree.

"But this was worth the pain," Elion said, feeling the new powers surging within him. "I feel like I can do anything right now."

[Not quite anything, but almost.]

Elion rolled his eyes, replying, "Yeah, yeah... anyway, that damn Dred really tried to kill me earlier while I was leveling up. Served that bastard right."

[You're too strong for it now after that level up.]

Elion sighed, hearing the system's statement. He didn't want his strength to make this battle boring. He hoped the Dred would somehow still be able to match him.

In the distance, Elion could see the Dred trying to stand on a floating boulder around Jupiter, a mix of shock and anger clearly visible on its face. It couldn't accept being humiliated and didn't want to admit that Elion was now far stronger than it.

Then, with rage in its heart, the Dred violently tore open space, vanishing and reappearing in front of Elion, spreading black energy from its body that quickly formed massive tentacles the size of planets in the solar system.

"Ugh... seriously, why's that bastard pulling out that disgusting thing again?" Elion looked with disgust at the black tentacles that were rapidly spreading across the vast expanse of space.

The Dred continued to move the tentacles until they reached the edge of the solar system, then one by one the tentacles encircled each planet, gripping them tightly.

"You think you're stronger than me now, Elion?" The Dred asked, sneering, then moved the tentacles to throw the planets at Elion. "You can't run from this!"

The planets hurtled towards Elion, destroying countless asteroids in outer space and creating cosmic explosions. In front of them, Elion appeared very small, like mere dust. But he was not afraid; he remained calm, his expression nonchalant, a small smile appearing on his lips.

"Run? That's only for the weak," he said as he gently snapped his fingers.

And suddenly, the movement of the planets stopped, as if time itself had frozen. Elion then snapped his fingers again, and in the next moment the planets began to vibrate, their size shrinking as if being absorbed or crushed, until they finally exploded.

BOOM!

A massive explosion rocked the solar system as all the planets exploded simultaneously, hurling billions of fragments in all directions. Every planetary fragment, from small pebble-sized pieces to giant continent-sized chunks, floated in uncertain trajectories, creating a new chaotic asteroid field.

"W-What?"

The Dred's eyes widened in disbelief, its body trembling. The sight before it was incomprehensible—how could Elion destroy entire planets with a single snap?

The Dred now had to admit that Elion's power had far surpassed its own.

As the blast's shockwave flung the Dred away, snapping it back to reality, it looked at Elion, floating gracefully amidst the destruction, a calm and overwhelming energy radiating from him.

At that moment, a foreign feeling crept into the Dred, making its body tremble violently, its pupils shrinking, and cold sweat pouring down its back.

It was the feeling of fear.

"Hah… that's ironic." Elion gazed at the Dred with a hint of sorrow, realizing what it was feeling. The tables had turned. The embodiment of fear itself now feared him—the very thing it once sought to intimidate.

"You were right. No… you are right." Elion spoke with a cold tone, a trace of disappointment hidden in his voice. "I am you."

The Dred's body quivered at these words, and at that moment, it turned, losing its balance briefly before steadying itself and fleeing from Elion at full speed.

Watching it retreat, Elion sighed deeply. His power was making the fight feel hollow. "Maybe it's time to wrap this up."

Activating his skill [Creation], Elion's body began to grow, soon eclipsing the sun and expanding further, dwarfing the entire solar system itself. Looking down, his gaze scanned for the Dred, which was hiding among the remains of a planet, its golden eyes shrunken in terror.

With a sigh in his gargantuan form, his breath alone pushed away several solar systems around him. "You really are scared, huh? This is's fun anymore."

He then stretched out his hand, trying to catch the Dred. The motion of his massive hand caused a devastating shockwave, destroying billions of asteroids floating in space.

The Dred, still hiding behind the shattered remains of Jupiter, looked up to see a hand far larger than the solar system targeting it, and it panicked even more, quickly fleeing with all the speed it could muster.

Unfortunately, the diameter of Elion's palm alone was 6 light-years, or 3 times the size of the solar system. No matter how fast and hard the Dred tried to escape from Elion, the shadow of his hand still loomed over it.

"You can't run from me. Just surrender," Elion's voice echoed, disappointment lacing his words.

Hearing this, the Dred accelerated even faster, matching the speed of light, darting to avoid the planetary fragments and hundreds of millions of asteroids. Just as it thought it would escape, Elion's hand successfully reached and captured it.

The Dred's vision instantly went dark within Elion's grip. In the grasp of a hand 3 times the size of the solar system, the Dred's body trembled again, unable to suppress its fear in the presence of such a godlike figure.

"What should I do with you?" Elion's voice, godlike in its majesty, reverberated in the Dred's ears, rupturing its eardrums and causing black blood to burst from them.

"AAARGHHH!" The Dred cried in agony, clutching its ears in desperation.

Unbothered, Elion considered ways to finally end the Dred's life.

[Just try everything,] the system suggested suddenly.

Deciding to experiment, Elion opened his palm and slapped the Dred as if swatting a fly.

BAM!

The impact flattened and pulverized the Dred into black energy dust. Yet, the particles quickly reformed, restoring the Dred to its original state.

Over and over, Elion attempted to kill it, using fire, divine light, and other unimaginable forces, but nothing succeeded—the Dred seemed invincible.

"This is nonsense. Nothing I do can kill this creature," Elion muttered in frustration.

Was the Dred truly immortal?

No.

There was one thing Elion didn't realize that prevented him from killing the Dred—he still had fear in his heart.

Fear that if the Dred died, all of this would be over, and he would be lonely once again.

Out of options, Elion threw the Dred into a nearby asteroid, shrinking back to his original size and standing before the cowering Dred. In the vast darkness of space, Elion's golden eyes shone as he looked down at his adversary with a sorrowful gaze.

"I don't know anymore."

In his mind, there was only one way left. If I can't kill it... I'll just have to get rid of it.

Extending a hand, he reactivated his [Creation] skill, concentrating intensely on his intent.

Suddenly, a dense, dark energy appeared at the heart of the universe. Space-time quivered as gravity twisted and warped. A moment later, a black circle materialized, causing light to vanish, sound ceased, and gravity grew with each second. The black hole expanded relentlessly, sucking in the fragments of planets and space rocks, towards the eternal abyss within.

"N-No!"

Seeing the black hole growing not far behind it, the Dred's face darkened. In panic, the Dred flew against the gravitational pull of the black hole, but the power of the black hole could not be underestimated, quickly pulling the Dred back in without mercy.

In desperation, it clung to one of the asteroids that had not yet been sucked into the black hole.

But that was a reckless choice. Of course, the asteroid floating in space would quickly be drawn into it.

[You have successfully created a black hole.] [50 Million Imagination Points have been deducted.]

When the system message appeared, Elion ignored it; his eyes focused on the Dred being cruelly sucked into the eternal darkness.

As the Dred's body was fully consumed by the abyss, Elion closed his eyes, let out a long sigh, and then whispered in a tone that conveyed deep sorrow.

"It's finally over."